3/10-3/13 This period was booked to be in the Arabian Sea, including Kochi (Cochin) & Mumbai. The Indian government decided to ban passengers arriving by cruise ship.
The itinerary was revised to suit the new circumstances.
3/8-3/12 Will be at sea, 3/13 at Muscat, Oman, 3/14 at sea, and 3/15 at Abu Dhabi, then to Dubai arriving earlier in the day 3/16 than the original schedule.
The itinerary was revised to suit the new circumstances.
3/8-3/12 Will be at sea, 3/13 at Muscat, Oman, 3/14 at sea, and 3/15 at Abu Dhabi, then to Dubai arriving earlier in the day 3/16 than the original schedule.
While steaming NW off SW India, we ran through a group of Indian fishing boats. The Captain did his best to steer through them, and kept the stabilizers inboard to prevent them tangling nets.
O did Greg Redfern's lecture and enjoyed it.
Then Trivia came along. In General we got 16/20, our best. On Science we did worse where we should have done better.
Now that we're steaming NW instead of NE, we get the afternoon sun on our verandah and into the cabin. Rather nice to have it warming us.
Crew drill at 1000, so no lecture at that time.
At noon the Captain came up on the PA to announce that the UAE has also closed their ports to us. Now the cruise will terminate early (3/14) at Muscat, Oman. The compensation due us is now 75% of cruise fees. Our flights will be re-booked for us to get us home. The follow-on cruise out of Dubai is cancelled.
We did lunch in the Patio. D brought her daily cookie back to the cabin afterward.
A letter came to the cabin stating all the above and a few more details. One was that all the shore tours were cancelled, returning those fees to our on-board-credit. So we headed off to spend $250. We tried hard, but things in the stores have been put on sale, so it's actually hard to do.
Trivia was rushed, then moved to the Cabaret Lounge. O became a hero by carrying the cast members Trivia regalia for her.
Dinner was nice, then the dance show. They went all-out and looked very good. Then nightcap(s) in the Den, talking mostly with Ed and Kathy from Asheville NC.
My brother John died at 1521 EST.
O did Dr Klein's lecture on Oman, etc., and did laundry and then did the e-Visa entries on Oman's website which wasn't too painful and received a near-immediate approval. We should now be allowed ashore and have a way to get home.
We did our afternoon trivia, not good. We were moved to the Living Room for this event, so picture at right.
Dinner in the dining room, table overlooking the wake. Very nice, relaxed.
Did the Just Dance show, very good.
Drinks in the Den afterward, everyone happy. Maybe too happy.
3/12 We were awakened by the PA asking people who need help with Oman e-Visa to come to the Drawing Room. Then D got on Facebook and found President Trump has prohibited all air traffic into the US from Europe. Now our current flight won't be able to fly to MIA from Zurich. Status unknown now. How are we to get home?
All through the day, chaos existed as people tried to get their flights changed, and to get Oman e-Visas. We just did our usual lunch, trivia, dinner, drinks, etc.
We arrived at Muscat around 2200. Nice harbor.